As means for monitoring and displaying data becomes more advanced, the surface area necessary to present this data (e.g., on an instrument panel) has become more cluttered. This is particularly true for control-heavy facilities (e.g., maintenance terminals) and vehicles (e.g., aircraft or submarines), where work surface area is at a premium.
Conventional solutions include the use of liquid crystal displays (LCD) or other large surface displays because of their widespread use, their display versatility, and the functionality they enable. However, these displays require a great deal of surface area and are pressure sensitive. Additionally, most instrument panel surfaces are restricted to a single layer (e.g., are substantially coplanar with the instrument panel) or single purpose functions (e.g., buttons or switches). Although tremendous effort is expended to balance maximum functionality, information availability, and the efficiency/comprehensibility of the instrument panel interface, single layer and single purpose surfaces are limiting. Therefore, it is desirable to provide one or more apparatuses to cure the deficiencies of the prior art.